Pope Francis urges church to break down walls in Philly Mass

Luke Skywalker · Sep 26, 2015

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[h=4]Pope Francis urges church to break down walls in Philly Mass[/h]Philadelphia is the final stop in a pontifical happening that has lured millions of exhilarated fans and plenty of the curious to line streets and pack venues for a glimpse of the popular leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

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Pope Francis arrived in Philadelphia Saturday morning -- the final stop in his landmark first visit to the United States. While departing, he stopped his motorcade to bless a child on the tarmac. (Sept. 26) AP

Pope Francis addresses parishioners during Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 26, 2015.(Photo: CJ Gunther, epa)

PHILADELPHIA*— The whirlwind tour of Pope Francis swept into this exhilarated city*Sunday, with the popular pontiff stepping to the altar of an iconic*basilica barely an hour after his plane touched down in the City of Brotherly Love.
The pope arrived at Philadelphia International Airport to musical selections ranging from*Ode to Joy*to the theme from the movie*Rocky.*Then, after some warm smiles, kisses and handshakes, his humble Fiat was off to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, where he celebrated Mass for a crowd of 1,600, most of them clergy.
White cloths streamed from a grotto built against the wall of the basilica as part of an art installation inspired by the pope's favorite painting,*Mary, Undoer of Knots. The Mass was dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and celebrated in three languages: Latin, English and Spanish.
As the Holy Father entered*the church, the choir sang in Latin*Tu es Petrus*or “You are Peter.” The liturgy came from a Genesis passage after Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit.
The*150-year-old masterpiece of a church sits on*the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which cuts a swath through the city's cultural center and*is home to World Meeting of Families events*taking place all weekend.
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The masons who built the church placed windows only in the basilica's uppermost story to protect worshipers from the anti-Catholic sentiment of the time.*Francis invoked the basilica's history of "high walls and windows" as he urged church leaders in the United States to devote more energy to reaching out to young people and those on the periphery of society.
"I would like to think, though, that the history of the church in this city and state is really a story not about building walls, but about breaking them down," he said. "It is a story about generation after generation of committed Catholics going out to the peripheries, and building communities of worship, education, charity and service to the larger society."
In a nod to Pennsylvania's homegrown saint, St. Katharine Drexel, Francis recounted Pope Leo's words to her when she complained of the needs of the missions.*Leo, whom the pontiff called "a very wise pope," asked Drexel pointedly, "What about you? What are you going to do?"
"Those words changed Katharine’s life, because they reminded her that, in the end, every Christian man and woman, by virtue of baptism, has received a mission," Francis said. "Each one of us has to respond, as best we can, to the Lord’s call to build up his body, the church."
Earlier, Francis was greeted at the airport by church and political leaders — and the family of a city police officer*who survived a shooting rampage that killed his partner.*Richard Bowes said*he*was stunned when he learned the family was chosen.
"Who thinks you are going to meet the pope, that you are going to be close enough to touch him?" Bowes said. "It's unbelievable."
The city*is awash in barricades, law enforcement officers and smiling volunteers. Much of the downtown area has been closed to traffic, and any cars left behind were towed away.
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Later in the day, Francis*will speak at*Independence Hall, making a pitch for religious freedom and compassion at the setting where colonists declared their freedom from British rule. His day will conclude with a vigil of prayer on the Parkway, a broad boulevard expanse that runs from City Hall to the Art Museum and was fashioned, by Franklin himself, in the tradition of the iconic Avenue des*Champs-Elysees in Paris.
On Sunday, Francis will meet with bishops at a local seminary, then visit with a group of inmates at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. The main event of the day, and perhaps the entire trip, will be a late afternoon*Mass on the Parkway*expected to draw 1 million people.
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Not all the events here will be church-sanctioned.*Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics are holding events, once of which champions*gay parents and their children. Francis has pleaded the case for compassion in the case of same-sex marriage and other family issues, but for many the church has not moved far enough.
Still, his themes of compassion, forgiveness and hope have resonated across a wide range of Catholics, lapsed Catholics, many who practice other faiths and others*with no religious convictions at all.
Father James Bretzky, a theology professor at Boston College, said that bishops, who Francis calls the voice of the church,*are getting the message, particularly after a speech Wednesday where the pope stressed that "harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a pastor."
"It's a hard course change though for many of them," Bretzky said. "If the bishops hadn't gotten the message before the meeting in D.C., they certainly can no longer deny that they've not heard the pope asking them to take a different tack."
Contributing: Meghan Montemurro, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

Bellatrix, right, has her costume adjusted by owner Ashley Spann while posing for photos for pedestrians with Addie, left, and owner Emily Mariani, right, outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, host of the World Meeting of Families conference, Sept. 25, 2015, in Philadelphia.* David Goldman, AP

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Pope Francis urges church to break down walls in Philly Mass

Luke Skywalker

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